Ahead of the UFC 312 middleweight title clash, Sean Strickland seems to have irked half of the world’s population with a single statement, prompting Belal Muhammad to step forward and criticize him. What did he say? Stay tuned as we bring you another episode of MMA Roundup.

From the Strickland news, we will move to a piece of information about Daniel Cormier, who has praised Jon Jones in his recent statement. Finally, we will be concluding our statement with Demetrious Johnson’s reaction to Dominick Cruz’s retirement.

Belal Muhammad goes all out on Sean Strickland

Sean Strickland is set to clash with Dricus Du Plessis in a bid to reclaim his middleweight title, but before that, he has found himself embroiled in an unexpected controversy. While having a conversation with the media at the UFC 312 pre-fight press conference, Strickland revealed that his first girlfriend was Jewish and then he expressed his stance on the Israel-Palestine issue which might have backfired on him.

”You know, actually my first girlfriend ever was Jewish. I’m actually really pro-Jew. It’s like people don’t understand this, I would go full send Israel, go have at it,” said Strickland as he laughed. In response to Strickland’s comments, welterweight champion Belal Muhammad came forward to call out the former middleweight champion.

”Definition of human trash deserves everything his dad did to him and more’,” wrote Belal Muhammad on his X handle. It must be noted that ‘Remember The Name’ and Strickland always had their differences. In his earlier statement, Muhammad emphasized that Strickland doesn’t deserve the middleweight title shot over Khamzat Chimaev. Now that we know about Sean Strickland, let us move forward to Daniel Cormier, who has some words of praise for Jon Jones.

Daniel Cormier pays respect to Jon Jones, names him the hardest hitter

When discussing legendary rivalries in MMA, the Jon Jones-Daniel Cormier feud is an essential part of the conversation. Even after all these years, both of these fighters still have a bit of resentment against each other. But that does not stop them from giving each other due credit and that’s what ‘DC’ did when he talked about Jon Jones in his recent escapade.

While having a conversation with Charles Oliveira, former featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, heavyweight superstar Tai Tuivasa, and welterweight standout Jack Della Maddalena at the UFC Q&A event, Daniel Cormier and all of the other fighters were asked a simple question: Throughout their respective careers in the UFC, which fighter hit them the hardest?

All fighters chose different names, but when it came to Daniel Cormier, the name he chose shocked everyone, “You know, honestly, I’ve only been knocked out one time so probably the guy who kicked me in the head… But honestly, the hardest puncher was probably Derrick Lewis or one of those heavyweights, those guys were big – but in terms of the kick, it was Jones.”

Cormier also dismissed Jones from the GOAT conversations because of his PED scandals but credited his fighting skills. And while we’re on the subject of GOATs, let’s take a look at a statement from another one.

‘Mighty Mouse’ reacts to Dominick Cruz’s retirement

Former bantamweight champion, Dominick Cruz has finally laid down his gloves as he announced his retirement from the sport after an illustrious career. ‘The Dominator’ took to his social media handle to add an emotional statement where he finally called his career, “I gave everything I had and put it into preparation and training for this fight —focusing on my cardio and my body for the past year,” Cruz wrote. “But sometimes, the body just doesn’t cooperate.”

The former UFC champ was supposed to clash against Rob Font at UFC Seattle. However, he pulled out of his fight with an injury and later announced retirement. After Cruz retired gracefully from the sport, former flyweight champion, Demetrious Johnson took to his Instagram handle to add a photo of Cruz inside the Octagon and captioned it as “Congratz on the amazing career @dominickcruz enjoy retirement it feels good to be on this side of the game.”

The last time Dominick Cruz stepped into the Octagon was at UFC Fight Night: Vera vs. Cruz against Marlon Vera. ‘The Dominator’ suffered a fourth-round knockout loss and has not competed since. Well, Cruz will be enjoying his retirement as he doesn’t have to worry about his fights anymore. What are your thoughts on his career? State your thoughts in the comments below.